This machine was listed on Ebay in January of 2024.

Before & After shots are below the text, so scroll down to see.

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This is 'The Challenge' Sewing Machine,

manufactured by The Imperial S.M. Co, 

Birmingham, England, from 1875-1877.

Dating:     1872 - 1882:    The Challenge was manufactured exclusively for Joseph Harris & Co. by The Imperial S.M. Co. 

History :      The Franklin Works S.M. Co  produced the Famous Agenoria  & several other High End Sewing Machines which were originally produced by a team of 3 men, who all worked together at first, then split apart, forming 3 different companies - each making their own, nearly identical versions of the same machines, under the same names.  Worse, they all stayed in the same area, utilizing the same iron works, etc - which also changed names, so it's a complicated, & possibly not 100% accurate history.    

 (If you know something is off, please advise.  I'm always happy to learn new things, & I do my best to present what I've found in the easiest to grasp format.  Date order is best to my mind, but there can be conflicting info online, so I aim for the more reliable sources, when that happens, or just say there's conflicting info.)

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Here Goes with what my research found:

1860:   The Agenoria Sewing Machine was originally made by Arthur Maxfield, who struggled to stay afloat, & eventually sold his business to The Franklin S.M. Co, in Birmingham, England.   

1870:     The Franklin Works S.M. Co  manufactured the Agenoria Sewing Machine, & went through several Management & Name changes, before closing.  Along the way they merged with other companies, too.  If you can follow along, this is quite a tangled history, amongst a small group of men & ever changing business partnerships.

 
1872:     Joseph Harris made a deal with the Royal S.M. Co - run by  Shakespear & Illeston, to supply The Challenge  Sewing machine direct to his stores.

1875:   The Franklin S.M. Co, was purchased by Joseph Harris & Co, which continued to manufacture the Agenoria & The Challenge, & renamed his new company the Imperial S.M. Co.  

***   This particular Challenge machine was manufactured by the Imperial SM Co, so we know it was made between 1875 (when the Imperial SM Co was named), & 1877 (when Imperial was bought out.)

1877:    Joseph Harris  Imperial S.M. Co was bought out by the Royal S.M. Co - still run by  Shakespear &  Illeston, who'd been manufacturing The Challenge, all along.   (The Royal S.M. Co. was a manufacturer of many beautiful & quality machines that were very desirable then, & still -  see the list below.)

1882:    The Royal S.M. Co diversified to include manufacturing other items, too, & became the Royal Machine Manufacturing Co.

1888:    The Royal Machine Manufacturing Co went out of business.

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Measurements (approximate): 

*   12" Wide  (Includes Hand Crank Knob).  

*   6" Deep   (Hand Crank Wheel = 6" ).  

*   10.5" Tall  (at the top of the Needle bars, when up).   

This is a VERY Heavy machine, due to its' Size, Cast Iron frame, & solid steel works beneath the stitch plate (see pics below).  Solid Steel & massively thick.  For a relatively small machine by modern standards, this thing weighs a ton.

Info at the bottom about the shuttle, & pics of how the works should look, when in working order.